Mother of teen who vanished in Aruba to speak

By Stephen Chupaska

January 13, 2011

Waterford - Beth Holloway, the mother of Natalee Holloway, the 18-year-old woman from Alabama who went missing in Aruba in May 2005, is expected to impart a message of hope, faith and personal safety when she speaks today at Waterford High School.
 
Waterford Youth Services, which books one or two inspirational speakers a year to address young people and others in the region, is sponsoring the 7 p.m. talk.
 
"We usually have an athlete or something like that," Youth Services Director Dani Gorman said. "But we thought Beth Holloway would be something different."
 
Gorman said she saw Holloway speak at a gathering of law enforcement officials and thought she would be good to bring to Waterford.
 
"(Holloway) speaks frequently to police and to kids about her daughter's story and the lessons she learned," Gorman said. "She's a fighter."
 
The Natalee Holloway case, which became a staple of cable news programs in the summer of 2005, is unresolved.
 
On May 30, 2005, six days after she graduated from high school, Holloway did not return home after a vacation with friends and was reported missing.
 
She was reportedly last seen outside a restaurant in Oranjestad, the Aruban capital. The main suspect, Joran van der Sloot, a Dutch national, was arrested and then released during the investigation. Van der Sloot has since been charged with the murder of a female university student in Lima, Peru.
 
In response to her daughter's disappearance, Holloway founded International Safe Travels Foundation, which works to raise awareness about overseas travel and laws.
 
Kathy Drenga of Preston, a former member of Scared Monkeys, a group that helps to raise awareness of missing persons cases, said Holloway often talks to young people and parents about legal systems in foreign countries.
 
"Things are not handled in the same way as they are in the United States," Drenga said.
 
The talk, which is open to people around the region, is free, but those attending must have a ticket.
 
Call Waterford Youth Services at (860) 444-5848 for ticket information.

Lifetime Orders 'Natalee Holloway' Movie Sequel, Reality Series WIth Holloway's Mom

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday February 23, 2011 @ 6:41pm PST

EXCLUSIVE: Two years after the Natalee Holloway telefilm set ratings records for Lifetime Movie Network, Lifetime has greenlit a sequel, Justice for Natalee Holloway, and Vanished with Beth Holloway, a 10-episode reality series starring Natalee Holloway's mom, which examines some of America's most disturbing unsolved cases. Both have started filming and will air on the flagship Lifetime channel.
 
Justice for Natalee Holloway picks up several years after the events in the original movie. It chronicles the ongoing mystery of the 2005 disappearance of the Alabama teenager during her senior class trip to Aruba and her suspected killer Joran van der Sloot's series of conflicting (and so far false) clues about her fate. When van der Sloot demands $250,000 from Beth to reveal the location of Natalee's remains, she and her attorney John Kelly partner with the FBI to build a case against him. But before they can, van der Sloot is arrested in Peru for the murder of a young woman on the 5th anniversary of Natalee's disappearance.
 
Natalee Holloway star Tracy Pollan is set to reprise her role as Beth Holloway in Justice for Natalee Holloway, with Stephen Amell (Vampire Diaries) taking on the role of van der Soot. (The part was played by Jaques Strydom in the first movie).

 
Scott Cohen will play Kelly, with Grant Show, who co-starred in the original as Beth's husband and Natalee's stepfather Jug Twitty, making an appearance reprising his role. The producing team behind the original movie: Sony Pictures TV and executive producers Frank von Zerneck and Judith Verno, are back, as is writer Teena Booth. Stephen T. Kay, who helmed Lifetime's recent movie hit The Craigslist Killer, is on board to direct. Like with the first movie, which was based on Beth Holloway's book, the sequel is being done with her cooperation. Justice for Natalee Holloway is the latest in a string of Lifetime movies based on high-profile real-life crimes, including last month's Craiglist Killer and this week's Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial. In its April 2009 premiere, Natalee Holloway drew 3.2 million viewers, at the time the largest audience in LMN's 11-year history. Pollan and Cohen are with Gersh; Amell, who was a finalist to replace Andy Whitfield on Starz's Spatracus, is with SMS and Leverage.
 
Vanished with Beth Holloway will feature families who've been victimized by unspeakable crimes who,

left with little hope, turn to Beth Holloway, herself on a quest to uncover the mystery surrounding her daughter Natalee's disappearance. Each of the 10 episodes will profile real-life mysteries, giving detailed accounts of the events as described by those closest to the victims interviewed by Beth who will offer her insight into each case. Jupiter Entertainment is producing, with Stephen Land (City Confidential) executive producing.